1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to computer system controls in general, and more particularly, to a method for controlling host throughput to a computer storage subsystem.
2. Description of Related Art
A computer system typically include a host connected to a storage subsystem. The storage subsystem may include a variety of storage devices such as hard drives and tape drives. The storage subsystem may also include a virtual tape storage system in which hard drives are utilized to emulate tape drives and tape cartridges. The host may write data to and read data from the storage subsystem over a communications channel. The throughput of the communications channel is commonly measured as the amount of data being passed through the communications channel per unit time, such as bytes per second.
While it is generally desirable to maintain the throughput of the communications channel between the host and the storage subsystem at a maximum, sometimes it may be beneficial to limit or “throttle” the throughput of the communications channel between the host and the storage subsystem, either for technical reasons or commercial reasons.